
Glass ^ 
Book„ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 






•^ :d \^t Great %/ 



Bill 





PR OQ ia«d. 



i ' 



THE &REAT 



CATARACT 



Illustrated. 



AND COMPLETE GUIDE TO ALL POINTS OF INTEREST AT 
AND IN THE VICINITY OF THE 



FALLS OF NIAGARA 



^ o>^.-^s^ 



The pi.^^-^ of Kings and EmpErars, in EVEry clime and zane, 
G-ro^sjs dim bEneatli ths splEndnrs of tliis glarinus watEry thrane, 




CHICH&n ; 

R. LESPIHASSE, Publisher. 

1884. 



uDPYRIGHT. 

R, LESPINRBSE, 

- 1BB4, 







Blomgren Bros. & Co., Electrotypers and Photo-Engravers Chicago. 



'^-^. 




'A 



«*-i- 




Terrapin Point and Horse-Shoe Falls. 



©UBLISHEI^'S HOTE. 



^I^e Editor and rublisber desires to ocl^nowledpe 
\\)e valuable \)e\p obtained by tl^e perusal of a few 
worlds, from vj\)'\c\) s[}ort excerpts appear in t^^e pa^es 
of tf^is Q-uide. 

6ntbony ^rollope's R0RTH OMERICA, pub- 
lished by rRessrs. Harper Dros,; an excjuisite little 
volume of Qeo. Houpbton's RlAGARA AND 0THER 
Pe&MS, published by FRessrs. Hou^bton, PRifflin 
A Oo.; and tbat world-wide well known ^tory of 

Qheir Wedding J0urney, by W. B. Howeiis, 

publisbed also by tbe last named firm. 




Map of Niagara Falls and Vicinity. 



fiO*s*? 



:>, €i^^ 



^%.. 




r-'.^io' 






Sf^^B^fg. 



Preliminary, --------- 11 

Distant Echoes, ---------12 

Adventures, -----_--.. 14 

Discovery, -._--____ 17 

Correlative, _------_.. 20 

An Imposing Scene, _---.-_- 22 

Poesy, -_---.-._ 27 

Creative Prodigality, - - - - - - - -31 

General Notes, -_-__--_ 40 

Icicles, .-_------_ 43 

Chilling Bondage, -------- 45 

Grand Tour, _ - - - - - - - - 49 

Goat Island Bridge, ---._-- 49 

American Rapids, ------- 52 

Ship and Brig Islands, - - - - - - 52 

Bath Island, --------52 

Chapin Island, ---_-__ 52 

Robinson Island, --------52 

On Goat Island, ------- 54 

Hog's Back, -------- 54 

Luna Island, -------- 54 

The Three Profiles, ------- 54 

The Center Fall, ------- 56 

Biddle's Stairs, --------56 

The Cave of the Winds, ------ 56 

The Rock of Ages, ------- 58 

Terrapin Bridge, - - -- - - - 58 

Three Sisters Islands, ------_62 

Leaping Rock, _-----. 62 

The Little Brother, ------- 62 

The Hermit's Cascade, ------ 62 

At the Head of Goat Island, ------ 62 

The Spring, -------- 64 

Prospect Park, -------_64: 



TABLE OF CONTENTS— COHTINUED. 




Grand Tour — 

Prospect Point, --------66 

The Inclined Railway, ___--- 66 

The Hurricane Bridge, _._--- 66 

The Shadow of the Rock, __---- 66 

The Ferry, - - - - - - - - 68 

General View, ___---- 68 

American Falls— Front View, __---- 70 

Table Rock, -------- 70 

Horse-Shoe Fall, -------- 70 

The Spiral Staircase, ------- 72 

Below Table Rock and Under the Fall, _ _ - - 72 

Canadian Rapids, - - - - - - - 74 

Grand Rapids Drive, ------- 74 

Burning- Spring, - - - - -.- - '^^ 

Navy Island, _-__---- 76 

Museum Building, - - - - - - - "^^ 

The New Suspension Bridge, ------ 76 

The Bridal Veil Fall, ------- 80 

New Cantilever Bridge, ------- 80 

Old Suspension Bridge, - - - - - - 80 

Whirlpool Rapids, - - - . - - - - 82 

Captain Webb, ------- 84 

Navigation of the Rapids, - - - - - - 84 

The Whirlpool, ------- 86 

The Manitou or Pinnacle Rock, - - - - - 88 

Brock's Monument, - - - - - - - "8 

Top of the Mountain, - - - - - - -88 

Queenston, -------- 

Lewiston, _ _ _ - . - - 

Fort Niagara, - - - - - - - ^^ 

Fort Missasauga, - - - - - - - - 90 

The Devil's Hole, _-_---- 90 

Lundy's Lane Battle Ground, - - - - - - 93 

Drummondville, - - - - - - - ^3 

Above the Falls, ___.__. 93 

Chippewa Battle Ground, _ _ _ - - 93 

Tuscarora Indian Reservation, ----- 93 

Distance Tables, __-__--- 95 
Admission Fees and Tolls, - - - - i - - -95 

Legal Rates of Fare, .__.--- 96 

Parting Injunction, - - - - - - - - 96 



88 
90 



fnEhiw)\^jin^. 



Anthony Trollope. 




the sights on this earth 
of ours which tourists 
travel to see, — at least 
\ of all those which I have 
seen, — I am inclined to give the 
to the Falls of Niagara. In the 
of such sights I intend to include 
lildings, pictures, statues, and wonders 
of art made by men's hands, and also all beauties of nature prepared 
by the Creator for the delight of his creatures. This is a long word; 
but as far as my taste and judgment go, it is justified. I know no 
other one thing so beautiful, so glorious and so powerful. At 
Niagara there is the fall of waters alone. But that fall is more 
graceful than Giotto's tower, more noble than the Apollo. The 
peaks of the Alps are not so astounding in their solitude. The 
valleys of the Blue Mountains in Jamaica are less green. The finish- 
ed glaze of life in Paris is less invariable ; and the full tide of trade 
round the Bank of England is not so inexorably powerful. 

11 



Di8f<p5^ BepfBs. 




URING the sixteenth 
and seventeenth centuries, 
[Ij' the work of discovery and ex- 
ploration of the American 
Continent was pushed with 
fervid zeal and enthusiasm 
by French adventurers, soldiers and 
missionaries. Jacques Cartier, a Captain, 
of St. Malo, under commission of King 
Francis I., left with two vessels on the 20th of April, 
1534, and after having discovered the entrance of the 
' estuary of the St. Lawrence set out again for France. 
In May of the following year, the St. Malo captain left 
at the head of a fleet of three vessels, and during this ex- 
pedition extended his investigation 640 miles from the 
mouth of the St. Lawrence to Hochelaga or Montreal, where he 
found "ploughed lands and large and beautiful plains full of the 
corn of the country." Here, Cartier, collected information from 
the Indians, who had accorded him a cordial welcome, about the 
rapids and source of the St. Lawrence and some distant water-falls. 
P>om this period to the end of the seventeenth century incidental 
reference is made in various explorers' accounts to the existence of 
the Falls, which are found marked down on several maps, but no 
historical mention whatsoever is made. 

12 



^g^B^^eii^ES. 




OBERT CAVALIER DE LA 
SALLE, son of a wealthy 
merchant of Rouen, France, 
^-^ an ambitious, bold, reso- 
lute young man, came to 
Canada in the spring of 1666, 
and stood conspicuous among 
■^// ^^' the most adventurous explorers at 
that time. He had a firm behef that the 
Mississippi river emptied southward into the Gulf 
of Mexico, and not into the Pacific ocean, as 
stated by other discoverers, and it became the settled purpose of 
his life to be the instrument by which the immense territory trib- 
utary to its waters would be thrown into the lap of France, and 
extensive commercial relations estabhshed. 

After a visit to King Louis XIV., who granted him a seign- 
ory of land in Canada around Ft. Catarauqui, and the order of 
Knighthood, La Salle on his return rebuilt the fort, which 'he 
named Frontenac, with massive towers of stone, then took steps 
to place another fort at the mouth of the Niagara river, having 
obtained reluctant permission from the Senecas to erect it, and 
also to build a vessel above the Falls of Niagara. This vessel, 

14 




Robert Cavalier De La Salle. 



named the Griffin, launched on the ytli of August, 1679, was the 
first to navigate the lakes. 

Father Louis Hennepin, a Roman Catholic Missionary, accom- 
panied La Salle in his explorations, and to him we are indebted 
for the first description of the wonderful cataract which he had 
visited in December, 1678. His work is entitled, "A New Dis- 
covery of a A^ast Country in America, extending above four 
thousand miles, between New France and New Mexico, with a 
description of the Great Lakes, Cataracts, Rivers, Plants and 
Animals; also the Manners, Customs and Languages of the sev- 
eral Native Indians, and the Advantages of Commerce with these 
different Nations, etc." It contains many wonderful recitals, 
bearing a strong impress of Indian folk-lore and traditions, 
coupled with a tendency to the marvellous. 




"^HL GR\VV\U. 



16 



Di88(|)^Ei^y. 




ATHER HENNEPIN is the first his- 
torian of the Falls, and a few excerpts 
1^ from his account prove interesting 
&' reading, even at this date. 

"Betwixt the Lakes Ontario and 
Erie, there is a vast and prodigious 
cadence of water, which falls down after a 
surprising and astounding manner; insomuch 
that the universe does not afford its parallel. 
'Tis true, Italy and Suedland boast of some 
such things, but we may well say that they 
are but sorry patterns when compared to this 

?>y -^^. .. .' . o^ which we now speak. At the foot of this 

ff-^S''?^^'^ hoinble precipice we meet with the river Niagara, 
/ W" ^ which IS not above a quarter of a league broad, 
but is wonderfully deep in some places. It is so rapid above this 
descent that it violently hurries down the wild beasts while endeav- 
oring to pass it to feed on the other side, they not being able to 
withstand the force of its current, which inevitably casts them head- 
long, above six hundred feet high. 

" This wonderful downfall is compounded of two great cross 
streams of water and two falls, with an isle sloping along the middle 
of it. The waters which fall from this horrible precipice do foam 
and boil after the most hideous manner imaginable, making an out- 
rageous noise, more terrible than that of thunder. " 
2 17 




Weld's Sketch (jf Iic)RSE Shoe Falls, 1795. 



©(pI^l^EbJ^fl^E. 




'EN years later La Hontaine substantially 
corroborates the statements of Hennepin. 
"As for the waterfall of Niagara, 'tis sevefy 
or eight hundred feet high and a half a 
league broad. Towards the middle of it 
we descry an island, that leans towards the 
precipice as if it were ready to fall. All 
the beasts that attempt to cross the waters 
within half a quarter of a league above this 
unfortunate island are sucked in by the stream. They serve for 
food for the Iroquois, who take them out of the water with their 
canoes. Between the surface of the water, that shelves prodigiously, 
and the foot of the precipice, three men may cross it abreast, with- 
out any other damage than a sprinkling of some few drops of water. " 
Charlevoix, in 1 721, gives a more correct approximation of the 
height of the Falls. " For my own part, " he writes, " having ex- 
amined it on all sides, where it could be viewed to the greatest ad- 
vantage, I am inchned to think we cannot allow it less than one 
hundred and forty or fifty feet. " 

Peter Kalm, a famous Swedish botanist, in 1750, notices the dis- 
appearance of some rocks which diverted the course of the Horse- 
Shoe Fall at the Table Rock, forming the cross Fall indicated by 
Hennepin. 

PiCQUET, Weld, Sutcliff and numerous other visitors during 
the eighteenth century, indicate some changes, such as a reduction 
in the number of cascades, and a crumbhng away of the rocky 
ledge, and constant recession of the Falls m consequence. 

20 




The Falls from Prospect Park. 



J\T) Iff)f§)SI9@ gSB^E. 



Edited. 




f^jj^N the sublimity and grandeur which attach to 

the irresistible rush and leap of mighty waters, 

Niagara stands alone, matchless and unrivaled. 

Fiom the rocks at the base of the American 

Fall unrolls the most imposing scene the 

eye of man will ever witness. 

The long column of sparkling water 
seems to descend to an immeasurable 
depth upon the rocks, the immense mass 
bleaks into spray, a tremendous ghost of mist, 
I foimmg heavy clouds, ascends to the heavens, 
the bright sea-green curve above has the ap- 
peal ance of being let into the sky, through the 
lifts m the spray, the vast line of the Falls looms 
up to view. A sight never to be forgotten. 
In the quiet hours of a glorious morning, looking now up to 
where the crown of the Fall, illuminated by the early sun, shines 
like opal, now downward where the gray mist curls up in the deep 
shadow, or across the chasm which seems bridged over by the rain- 
bow, whose feet are planted by the American shore, while its 
summit, which not long before had topped the height of the C^anadian 
precipice, flinging a glory over the bare rocks and scanty shrubbery, 
creeps slowly down, as the sun climbs its steep way up the eastern 
sky, the tremendous power and magnificence of the Falls excites 
the fullest admiration and astonishment. 

22 





Below the American Fall. 



From the wall of waters, every spray-drop gives back a 
diamond — every column of the descending element, a pillar of 
silver — and in the center of the Horseshoe Fall the bright emerald 
of the deep water, curving over the cliff, reflects rays as of the most 
brilliant gems. 

If there were gates to fairy-land opening from this world of ours, 
and times when they are visible and recognizable by the chance 
passing eye of man, one would believe he had fallen on the hour, 
and that some inner and slowly opening portal was letting the 
brightness of a fairy world through these curtains of crystal. And 
the dark waters of the river contrasting with the foamy, boiling ap- 
pearance of the seething caldron at the foot of the Falls, the tem- 
pestuous agitation of the wild currents, and the storm of spray and 
wind seem fitting preludes to a vision of the Inferno, thrown into 
the very distant back-ground by a flood of light and beauty. 

Tall above tower and tree looms thj^ steeple builded of sunshine, 
Mystical steeple, white, like a cloud, upyearning toward heaven. 
Till into cloud-land it drifts, uprolling- in hill-tops and headlands, . 
Catches the glory of sunset, then pales into rose-tint and purple. 



"Who in bright pignents shall match the luminous sun-god at mid-day ! 
Who shall dare picture in words the turbulent wrath of the tempest! 
Seeing, I can buu stand still, with finger on Up, and keep silent. 

—Geo. Houghton. 




""n 




In the River, below the Horse-Shoe Falls. 




Thy forest pines are fitter coronal." 




f?Bsy. 



'Tremendous torrent! for an instant hush 
The terrors of thy voice, and cast aside 
Those wide involving shadows, that my eyes 
May see the fearful beauty of thy face ! 



Thou flowest on in quiet, till thy waves 
Grow broken 'midst the rocks; thy current then 
Shoots onward like the irresistible course 
Of destiny. Ah, terribly they rage,— 
The hoarse and rapid whirlpools there ! My brain 
Grows wild, my senses wander, as I gaze 
Upon the hurrying waters ; and my sight 
Vainly would follow, as toward the verge 
Sweeps the wide torrent. Waves innumerable 
Meet there and madden,— waves innumerable 
Urge on and overtake the waves before. 
And disappear in thunder and in foam. 
27 




"Toward the verge sweeps the wide torrent. 



They reach, they leap the barrier,— the abyss 

Swallows insatiable the sinking waves. 

A thousand rainbows arch them, and woods 

Are deafened with the roar. The violent shock 

Shatters to vapor the descending sheets. 

A cloudy whirlwind fills the gulf, and heaves 

The mighty pyramid of circling mist 

To heaven. * « * * 

What seeks my restless eye ? Why are not here, • 

About the jaws of this abyss, the paluis,— 

Ah, the delicious palms, — that on the plains 

Of my own native Cuba spring and spread 

Their thickly f oliaged summits to the sun , 

And, in the breathings of the ocean air 

Wave soft beneath the heaven's unspotted blue ? 

But no, Niagara,— thy forest pines 
Are fitter coronal for thee. The palm, 
The effeminate myrtle and pale rose may grow 
In gardens and give out their fragrance there, 
Unmanning him who breathes it. Thine it is 
To do a nobler office. Generous minds 
Behold thee, and are moved and learn to rise 
Above earth's frivolous pleasures; they partake 
Thy grandeur at the utterance of thy name. 

* * * * * 

Dread torrent, that with wonder and with fear 
Dost overwhelm the soul of him who looks 
Upon thee, and dost bear it from itself, — 
Whence hast thou thy beginning ? Who supplies 
Age after age, thy unexhausted springs ? 
"What power hath ordered that, when all thy weight 
Descends into the deep, the swollen waves 
Rise not and roll to overwhelm the earth ? 

The Lord hath opened his omnipotent hand, 
Covered thy face with clouds and given his voice 
To thy down-rushing waters : he hath girt 
Thy terrible forehead with his radiant bow. 
I see thy never-resting waters run. 
And I bethink me how the tide of time 
Sweeps to eternity. " 

Translated from the Spanish of Maria Josi Heredosia, 
by William Cullen Bryant. 

30 



€InB^fii?B ]f^fDie^isify. 




Rev. Baseom. 



HAVE seen, surveyed, and communed with the 
whole! — and, awed and bewildered, as if en- 
chanted before the revealment of a mystery, I 
attempt to write. You ask me in your last for some 
detailed, veritable account of the Falls, and I should 
be glad to gratify you ; but how shall I essav to 

-,■; paint a scene that so utterly baffles all conception, 
- ^ 

and renders worse than fruitless every attempt at 

/ description? In five minutes after my arrival, 
and for the first time in my life, I saw this 
unequaled cascade from Table Rock ; the 
whole indescribable scene, in bold outline, 
bursting on my view at once. I had heard and 
read much, and imagined more, of what was 
vi— / x3 before me. I was perfectly familiar with the 
^^Sl^Si/? often-told, the far-travelled story of what I saw; 
f^V^i^^ J^^ l3^t; the overpowering reality on which I was 

gazing, motionless as the rock on which I stood, deprived me of 
recollection, annihilated all curiosity; and, with emotions of sub- 
limity, till now unfelt, and all unearthly, the involuntary exclama- 
tion escaped me, ''God of grandeur^ what a scene V But the 
majesty of the sight, and the interest of the moment, how depict 
them ? The huge amplitude of water, tumbling in foam above, 

31 




View from Railroad Bridges. 



and dashing on, arched and pillared as it glides, until it reaches 
the precipice of the chute, and then, in one vast column, bound- 
ing, with maddening roar and rush, into the depths beneath, 
presents a spectacle so unutterably appalling that language falters; 
words are no longer signs, and I despair giving you any adequate 
idea of what I saw and felt. Yet this is not all. The eye and the 
mind necessarily take in other objects, as parts of the grand pano- 
rama; forests, cliffs, and islands; banks, foam and spray; wood, 
rock, and precipice; dimmed with the rising fog and mist, and ob- 
scurely gilded by the softening tints of the rainbow. These all 
belong to the picture ; and the effect of the whole is immeasurably 
heightened by the noise of the cataract, now reminding you of the 
reverberations of the heavens in a tempest, and then of the eternal 
roar of ocean, when angered by the winds. 

The concave bed of rock, from which the water falls, some two 
hundred feet, into the almost boundless reservoir beneath, is the 
section of a circle, which, at first sight, from Table Rock, presents 
something like the geometrical curve of the rainbow ; and the wonders 
of the grand Crescent, thus advantageously thrown upon the eye in 
combination, and the appropriate sensations and conceptions height- 
ened by the crash and boom of the waters, render the sight more sur- 
passingly subhme than any thing I have ever looked upon or con- 
ceived of. As it regards my thoughts and feeling at the time, I can 
help you to no conception of their character. Overwhelming as- 
tonishment was the only bond between thought and thought; and 
wild, and vague, and boundless, were the associations of the hour ! 
Before me the strength and fulness of the congregated " lakes of the 
north" were enthroned and concentrated, within a circumference 
embraced by a single glance of the eye. 

Here I saw, rolling and dashing, at the rate of twenty-five 
hundred millions of tons per day, nearly one-half of all the fresh 
water upon the surface of the globe! On the American side, I 

3 33 



beheld a vast deluge, nine hundred feet in breadth, with a fall of 
one hundred and eighty or ninety, met, fifty feet above the level of 
the gulf, by a huge projection of rock, which seems to break the 
descent and continuity of the flood, only to increase its fierce and 
overwhelming bound. And turning to the Crescent, I saw the 
mingled rush of foam and tide, dashing with fearful strife and des- 
perate emulation— four hundred yards of the sheet rough and sparry 
and the remaining three hundred a deep, sea-like mass of living 
green— rolling and heaving like a sheet of emerald. Even imagina- 
tion failed me; and I could think of nothing but ocean let loose 
from his bed, and seeking a deeper gulf below ! The fury of the 
water, at the termination of its fall, combined with the columned 
strength of the cataract, and the deafening thunder of the flood, are 
at once inconceivable and indescribable. No imagination, however 
creative, can correspond with the grandeur of the reality. 

I have already mentioned, and it is important that you keep it 
in view, the ledge of rock, the verge of the cataract, rising like a 
wall of equal height, and extending in semicircular form across the 
whole bed of the river, a distance of more than two thousand feet; 
and the impetuous flood, conforming to this arrangement, in making 
its plunge, with mountain weight, into the great Horseshoe basin 
beneath, exhibits a spectacle of the subHme, in geographical scenery, 
without, perhaps, a parallel in Nature. As I leaned over Table 
Rock, and cast my eye downward upon the billowy turbulence of 
the angry depth, where the waters were tossing and whirling, coiling 
and springing, with the energy of an earthquake, and a rapidity that 
almost mocked my vision, I •found the scene sufficient to appall 
a sterner spirit than mine; and I was glad to turn away and relieve 
my mind by a sight of the surrounding scenery —bays, islands, 
shores, and forests, everywhere receding in due perspective. The 
rainbows of the Crescent and American side, which are only visible 
from the western bank of the Niagara, and in the afternoon, seem 

34 



I- 






Centre Fall and Rock of Ages. 



to diminish somewhat from the awfulness of the scene, and to give 
it an aspect of rich and mellow grandeur, not unlike the bow of 
promise, throwing its assuring radiance over the retiring waters of 
the deluge. 

The "rapids, " which commence nearly a mile above the cataract, 
and, sparkling in the sun, spread out, before the eye, like a sea of 
diamonds, seem admirably to give notice of what awaits below; and 
when examined from a position on Goat Island, become extremely 
interesting, from the dash and foam of the broken flood, the noise 
of which, distinct from that of the great Fall, would remind you of 
the lofty murmurs of an Alpine forest, in the rising swell of the 
coming storm. In crossing the river below the Falls, you have one 
of the richest views of the whole cascade that can possibly be im- 
agined; and the rising bank and mossy rock, the lofty trees and 
luxuriant shrubbery on either side, are in fine keeping with the 
scene, and are essential to the unity and completeness of the 
picture. But what most interested me here, was the tumultuous 
tossing and whirling of the water. The whole mass seems to be 
heaving with infuriate life. A thousand counter currents and eddies 
meet, break, and mingle, in the general "torrent and whirlwind" 
of the waters. 

But the most appalling combination of wonder and awe was felt, 
when, after descending the spiral staircase at Table Rock, I passed 
under the great falling sheet. Divesting myself of the more burden- 
some part of my clothes, and girding an oil-cloth mantle about me, 
with a hood for the protection of the head, I entered the hollow 
space, half luminous, half obscure, between the projecting rock and 
the boundless mass of water pouring over its arch, like a sea of 
molten lead. In this way I proceeded one hundred and fifty or 
sixty feet, to " Termination Rock, " a point beyond which no human 
being has ever penetrated; and here, amid a tempest of wind and 
spray, almost depriving me of respiration, I paused to look up and 

36 




Old Terrapin Jower and American Rapids, 



around, awed and agitated by the stirring grandeur and sombre 
mysteriousness of all I could hear or see ! 

The edge of the precipice, over which the water falls, is a pro- 
jection of about fifty feet over the base where I stood. After 
remaining here for several minutes, and selecting some pebbles from 
the path at my feet, with an increased sense of danger, I effected 
my retreat, sincerely thankful, that I had not purchased the gratifi- 
cation of my curiosity with the loss of my life. I spent four days 
and nights, with the exception of a few hours for rest, in the exami- 
nation of the Falls, and in solitude with the majesty of the engross- 
ing scene — a majesty all its own — untyped and unshadowed by 
aught I had ever seen before; and having surveyed the great object 
of my visit from nearly a hundred different points of view, I was 
more than satisfied that the cataract of Niagara is a wonder in 
nature, wholly unique in its kind, and affording a rich, if not an 
unequaled harvest of interest and observation, to every beholder. 
Indeed, Nature seems, to have done her work here in a mood and 
upon a scale of the most creative prodigality; consulting alike, as 
the pagan poet would say, "her own amusement and the admiration 
of man. " 




38 







''^'I^":^' 






GEREI^Jlb Rof ES. 




H E boundary line between the Ignited 
^^v^ States and the Dominion o\ Canada runs 
in the center of the deepest water of the 
Niagara river, reaching from Lake Erie to 
Lake Ontario, and 36 miles in length. Its 
level above the sea is 564 feet and above 
Lake Ontario 334, which, of course, is 
the descent it makes to the latter. The descent 
from Lake Erie to Schlosser is 12 feet; at the rapids, 52 feet; at 
the Cataract. 164 feet ; from this point to Lewiston, 104 feet ; thence 
to Lake Ontario, 2 feet. At the head of Grand Island it branches 
out into two streams, measuring 8 miles across; opposite Schlosser 
it is nearly 3 miles; at the Falls three-quarters of a mile in width; 
at the Ferry. ^6 rods wide; at the AMiirlpool 750 yards. Its depth 
varies in different places, from 75 to 300 feet. 

The quantity of water precipitated over the Falls is estimated at 
100 million tons per hour. It is the great drain of the lakes Superior, 
Michigan. Huron, and Erie, with all the rivers tiowing into them. 

The American Fall is about 900 feet in breadth, and the water 
descends over a cHfi' 164 feet in height. The Horse-Shoe is about 
iSoo feet in breadth, and descends over cliffs of 158 feet in depth. 

An opinion is generally entertained that the Falls were once 
located at the heights of Queenston, and that they have receded 
gradually. Sir Charles Lyell, a learned geologist, states it to be 
his conviction, that the Falls recede about one foot in the year; 
that probably they remained stationery for many years at the whirl- 
pool, and that it took 15.000 years to bring them where they now 

40 



are. Of late years, since they have been more closely observed, 
there has been some change in their shape, slight variations con- 
stantly occurring. 

Some even assert that within the memory of men of this genera- 
tion the actual recession has been more than loo feet. This, how- 
ever, is not substantiated by any proofs that can be verified, and 
must be accepted "'cum grano sails.'" 

The roaring of the Cataract, in favorable states of the wind and 
atmosphere, is heard at great distances. Along the course of the 
river, it is asserted, the sound is perceptible at a distance of 14 
miles. Yet it is scarcely heard within the precincts of the Falls, 
above, and at a little distance from them. The concussion of the 
atmosphere is such, however, that the windows in the buildings near 
the Falls keep up a continuous rattling, and the tremor can be felt 
very sensibly at times. 

The word Niagara is of Indian origin, and is variously interpreted 
to mean " The Thunder of Waters, " " Thundering Waters, " or " The 
Thunderer of the Waters. " 

The shores of Niagara river have been the theater of numerous 
sanguinary actions; the possession of its borders having been dis- 
puted in turn by the French and Indians, English and French, 
Americans and Indians, and later on British and Americans. 

Every change of season, weather and light, imparts some peculiar 
aspect to the extraordinary scene. The rising sun gilds the edges 
of the cataract, and illuminates the upper banks, with their wild 
crests of overhanging trees. The lofty column of mist, which for- 
ever stands like a cloud over this scene of noise and fury, is some- 
times dark as a storm-cloud, but more frequently of a snowy 
whiteness, and illuminated and painted -by rainbows, whose arches 
vary, in their position and direction, with the course of the sun. 
Night casts a tone of majesty over the scene — the wonderful effects 
of the lunar bows being specially interesting to witness. 

41 




Btfl>^ I , ;::X 




^^ \h\\ &"S 



St. 






- <gs.> 




-s^-b^ 









^ 




s.r 



.^\\ 



v^' ^, 



WiJNTER Scenery at Pro^jpect Park, 



klGbB8. 



SCENES of unsurpassing beauty are 
presented by the Cataract of Niagara 
in winter. The trees are covered with 
the most brilHant and sparkHng corusca- 
tions of snow and ice; the islands, the 
shrubs, the giant rocks, are robed in the 
same spotless vesture. Frozen spray, 
glittering and gleaming as brightly and 
vivaciously as frozen sunlight, encases all 
things ; Niagara Falls is the absolute 
dominion of the Ice I\ing. In bfight 
sunshine, the flashing rays from millions 
of gems produce a bewitching effect. 

Upon the occurrence of a thaw suf- 
ficient to break up the ice in Lake Erie, 
masses of floating ice, dissevered from 
the frozen lake and stream above, are 
precipitated over the Falls in blocks 
of several tons each. These remain at 
the foot of the cataract, from the stream 
being closed below, and form a natural 
bridge across it. As they accumulate, 
they get progressively piled up, like a 
Cyclopean wall, built of huge blocks of 
ice instead of stone. This singular mason- 
ry of nature gets cemented by the spray, 
which rising in clouds of mist as usual 
from the foot of the Falls, attaches itself 
in its upward progress to the icy wall, filling up the interstices. 

43 





Luna Island's Wintry Garb. 



Qpmisi^© lif 5E^gB. 



The lee Bridge, 




I LORIOUS art thou in thy bondag-e still, 
Thou Alp majestic 'mid the fettered floods! 
For thou dost tower like snow-clad mountains high, 
Whose glacier-tops with avalanche unmoved, 
Defy the sun to melt their frozen crowns. 
That steel the radiance of the earliest dawn, 
And shine with eyes that rival e'en the stars! 
I see thee sitting like a Roman chief 
Upon his curule chair in forum halls, 
Looking with quick and piercing glance around. 
While lictors frontward stand, his body-guard. 
With threateiung fasces to enforce his word ; 
Or like an army filed in bold array, 
With muskets bright and bristling bayonets. 
That daze the foeman's eyes which miss their aim. 
I have looked up on tall ancestral piles 
Of Gothic architecture framed by art. 
With marble quarried from the whitened rock, 
Th:)t lifted high their turrets in the light. 
And poin el many sharjjened spires above. 
With rugged front and visages all carved 
In purposed rudeness imitating life. 
And now I seem thus looking up to thee, 
Thou frost built prison of the captured flood ! 
What solemn awe and what emoLions deep. 
Of grandeur and suljlimity arise 
Within my wondering soul at sight of thee ! 

Now like a Switzer huntsman on the Alps, 

With sandaled foot and iron-pointed staft', 

I traverse here the pathway of ths tide. 

All strongly paved with massive blocks of ice ! 

Down steep declivities, whose sharpened sides 

With jutting iticles oppose my steps, 

I pass securely though with beating heart; 

Across the clefts by thy convulsions formed, 

I leap along nor see the chasm below ! 

O'er towering peaks whose craggy ascenfs tire, 

I slowly creep with clinging hand and foot; 

Now up thy steep, while deaf to caution's voice, 

I mount unwearied, heeding not the threat, 

Thou thunderest forth behind these ponderous walls, 

In smothered tones like those of muffled drums ! 

— Hev. Bulkley. 
45 




The Ice Mountain— 18S3 




American Fall— Leaping Kock— Goat Island Toll Gatj 














■sw^-'y 






SaSPENSfOw HRIDSg. 



#" 






^WHIRLPOOL 



yn.v 




-~ ^<';*. 



-"^r^ 

^^^^y 



©^^^9 Yfieii^ 




ND now, kind reader, if you will follow 
the pilgrim in his rambles, he will guide 
to every point of interest rounda- 
bouts. The distances from either the 
depots or hotels to the most inter- 
esting points on the American side 
are insignificant. Following the main street, we 
are within two or three blocks of the islands and 
the park. 
Our first steps are directed towards Goat Island group, 
composed of a number of islets studding the river, besides 
the main island which divides the Horse-shoe and American Falls. 
A very few moments bring us to the toll-gate of 

GOAT ISLAND BRIDGE. 
This structure is remarkable from the fact that it spans one of 
the most turbulent of any known rapids. It was first built as a frail 
wooden structure in 1817, by Judge Porter, and was soon carried 
away. It was replaced by a stronger one, which stood from 18 18 to 
1856, when it was removed, and the present elegant structure 
substituted. The foundations are heavy oaken cribs, filled with 
stone and plated with iron. The bridge itself is of iron, in four 
arches, each of ninety feet span, making a total length of three 
hundred and sixty feet. Its width is twenty-seven feet, comprising 
4 49 




Views on Luna Island. 



a double carriage-way, with foot-way on either side. Here is the 
finest lookout on 

THE AMERICAN RAPIDS ABOVE THE FALLS, 

which viewed from this point present the appearance of plunging 
from the sky, but only a prelude to the wild scenes further on. The 
scene is one of unusual wildness and weird beauty. Like the mem- 
orable bride and groom in Howell's Wedding Journey we pause 
and look " up and down the rapids rushing down the slope in all 
their wild variety, with the white crests of breaking surf, the dark 
massiveness of heavy-climbing waves, the fleet, smooth sweep of 
currents over broad shelves of sunken rock, the dizzy swirl and suck 

of whirlpools. " 

SHIP AND BRIG ISLANDS 

Stem the current a little above the bridge and are two small wooded 
isles of rare beauty. It needs but little effort of the imagination to 
fancy them vessels under full press of sail, endeavoring to sheer out 
of the current that hurries them inevitably down. Ship Island was 
once accessible by a bridge connecting it with Bath Island. It was 
swept away and has not been rebuilt. 

BATH ISLAND, 
one of the group of islands which stud the rapids upon the American 
side, above the cataract, is the first on our way. It contains about 
two acres, and its former scenes of loveHness have disappeared to 
make room for the various buildings and sheds of a large paper-mill. 
Looking down the river are several small islets, the first two of which 
are named Chapin and Robinson Island. 

CHAPIN ISLAND 
received its name from that of a workman who fell into the rapids 
while repairing the Goat Island bridge, was hurled to its shores, and 
notwithstanding the imminent peril of the undertaking was rescued 
by Joel R. Robinson. 

ROBINSON ISLAND 
is named after the intrepid navigator of Niagara's troubled waters, 
whose brave feats of daring in rescuing life and property should 
immortahze his name. 

Crossing by a bridge of a single span at the south end of Bath 
Island, we are 

52 




Nicholas Biddle and Biddi.e's Stairs. 



ON GOAT ISLAND, 

into a shady forest, almost in its primeval simplicity, a most lovely 
and romantic spot of ground, affording a cool retreat in summer 
from the noon-day heat, beneath the dense foliage of trees abound- 
ing there, upon the trunks of which are inscribed various names and 
dates showing that visits were here made as early as 1769. It was, 
in ancient times, one of the favorite burying-grounds of the Indians. 
It owes its singular name to the fact that some goats placed there to 
pasture in 1779, perished from the cold during the ensuing winter. 
This island, forming on one side a part of the precipice, commences 
near the head of the Rapids almost in the center of the river, divid- 
ing it so as to form the two main portions of the Falls. It covers 
an extent of seventy acres. 

On reaching the Island we have taken the first road leading to 
the right and arrive at the northwest part, upon a narrow ridge, 
called from its shape 

HOG'S BACK, 
from which we gain one of the finest views of the American Falls. 
Right in front is the small Center Fall, and the foot-bridge which 
leads to Luna Island, with its dwarfed and stunted trees; beyond is 
the serrated line of the American Falls; while the distance is filled 
up with the receding lines of the banks of the river below. 

Descending the steps in front of us, we cross a pretty and sub- 
stantial bridge over the stream that forms the Center Fall and land 

upon 

LUNA ISLAND, 

a pleasant little islet well worthy of a visit. Its name came to it in 
connection with the weird and pleasing appearance of the Lunar 
bows, visible there. From its northwestern point the sight of the 
many rainbows playing hide and seek over the foamy waters, min- 
gling their radiant colors with the brilliant silvery tinges of the spray 
at the foot of the Fall, is a most delightful one. 

THE THREE PROFILES 

are an irregular projection of that portion of the precipice which is 
formed by the west side of Luna Island, and are almost under the 
American Fall. They obtain their name from their remarkable 
likeness to three human faces. 

54 




Entra,nce to the Cave of the Winds, 



THE CENTER FALL, 

over which we pass on our way to and from Goat Island, although 
a mere ribbon of white water when seen from a short distance in 
contrast with the Great Falls, is by no means unworthy of notice. 
It is I GO feet wide, and a very graceful sheet of water. A few paces 
bring us to the entrance of 

BIDDLE'S STAIRS, 

erected in 1829, by Mr. Biddle, president of the United States bank. 
They are firmly secured to the cliff, quite safe, and 80 feet high. 
The total descent from the top of the bank to the bottom is 185 
feet. From these stairs Sam Patch made his famous leap into the 
river, from a platform extending across the slopy cliff and came out 
unharmed. Descending the stairs we take the pathway to the right, 
and having previously donned a water-proof dress are prepared for 
a visit to 

THE CAVE OF THE WINDS, 

which lies behind the Center Fall. The Cave is 100 feet high by 
100 deep and 160 long, and its existence is due to the action of the 
waters upon the shale, leaving the more soHd limestone rock over- 
hanging. A visitor, whose impressions appeared in Harper's Maga- 
zine years ago, gives a most graphic description : "Close by the 
entrance you look down into an abyss of cold gray mist, driven ever 
and anon like showers of hail into your face, as you grope your way 
down the rocky slope. Haste not, pause not. Here is the plat- 
form, half seen, half felt amid the blinding spray. Shade of Father 
Hennepin, this is truly a 'dismal roaring' of wmd and water. We 
are across — and stand secure on the smooth shaly bottom of the 
cave. Look up ! what a magnificent arch is formed by the solid 
rock on the one side, and the descending mass of water on the 
other. Which is the solider and firmer you hardly know. Yet look 
again — for it is sunset — and see what we shall see nowhere else on 
earth, three rainbows one within another, not half-formed and 
incomplete, as is the scheme of our daily life ; but filling up the 
complete circle, perfect and absolute. " By means of some bridges 
thrown over the rocks in front of the cave a magnificent view can 
be had of the Center Fall. 

56 




PlLOKLMAGE UNDEK THE FaLL. 



THE ROCK OF AGES 

is the huge rock lying at the foot of the Falls in front of the Cave 
of the Winds. 

From the foot of the staircase, the path to the left leads toward 
the Horse-Shoe Fall. Portions of the rock fall occasionally, and 
the road is but little used, and not kept in good condition ; still, one 
is well repaid for an attempt to get a close sight of the Great Fall 
from below. 

Returning to the bank above, and continuing the walk along 
the brink, the next interesting point of observation is 

TERRAPIN BRIDGE, 
leading to the edge of the Horse-Shoe Fall and the Terrapin Rocks, 
where for forty years the well-known Terrapin Tower, standing at 
the very verge of the Falls, constituted a land mark to be seen from 
all directions. The bridge, being so near the Fall as to be affected 
by the spray, requires that those who pass over it should avoid 
exposure. The water at this extremity of the Fall descends in light 
feathery foam, contrasting finely with the solid masses in which it 
seems to plunge down the center of the sweeping curve. The line 
of division between the government of the United States and that 
of Canada is in the deepest part of the channel, or through the 
angular part of the Fall. It passes through the lonely little Gull 
Island in the center of the river, which has never been trodden by 
human foot. 

Anthony Trollope, after a visit to this point, gives his impressions 
as follows : "The line of the ledge bends inwards against the Hood, 
—in, and in, and in, till one is led to think that the depth of that- 
horse-shoe is immeasurable. It has been cut with no stinting hand. 
A monstrous cantle has been worn back out of the centre of the 
rock, so that the fury of the waters converges, and the spectator as 
he gazes into the hollow with wishful eyes fancies that he can hardly 
trace out the center of the abyss. " 

"Go down to the end of that wooden bridge, seat yourself on the 
rail, and there sit till all the outer world is lost to you. There is no 
grander spot about Niagara than this. The waters are absolutely 
around you. If you have the power of eye-control which is so 
necessary to the full enjoyment of scenery you will see nothing but 

5b 




Horse-Shoe Fall from Goat Island. 



the water. You will certainly hear nothing else ; and the sound, I 
beg you to remember, is not an ear-cracking, agonizing crash and 
clang of noises; but is melodious, and soft withal, though loud as 
thunder. It fills your ears, and as it were envelopes them, but at 
the same time you can speak to your neighbor without an effort 
But at tliis place, and in these moments, the less of speaking, I 
should say, the better. There is no grander spot than this. Here, 
seated on the rail of the bridge, you will not see the whole depth of 
the fall. In looking at the grandest works of nature, and of art too, 
I fancy, it is never well to see all. There should be something left 
to the imagination, and much should be half concealed in mystery. 
The greatest charm of a mountain range is the wild feeling that 
there must be strange unknown desolate worlds in those far-off 
valleys beyond. And so here, at Niagara, that converging rush of 
waters may fall down, down at once into a hell of rivers for what 
the eye can see. It is glorious to watch them in their first curve 
over the rocks. They come green as a bank of emeralds ; but with 
a fitful flying color, as though conscious that in one moment more 
they would be dashed into spray and rise into air, pale as driven 
snow. The vapor rises high into the air, and is gathered there, 
visible always as a permanent white cloud over the cataract; but 
the bulk of the spray which fills the lower hollow of that horse-shoe 
is like a tumult of snow. This you will not fully see from your seat 
on the rail. The head of it rises ever and anon out of that caldron 
below, but the caldron itself will be invisible. It is ever so far 
down, — far as your own imagination can sink it. But your eyes 
will rest full upon the curve of the waters. The shape you will be 
looking at is that of a horse-shoe, but of a horse-shoe miraculously 
deep from toe to heel; — and this depth becomes greater as you sit 
there. That which at first was only great and beautiful, becomes 
gigantic and sublime till the mind is at loss to find an epithet for its 
own use. To realize Niagara you must sit there till you see nothing 
else than that which you have come to see. You will hear nothing 
else, and think of nothing else. At length you will be as one with 
the tumbling river before you. You will find yourself among the 
waters as though you belonged to them. The cool liquid green will 
run through your veins, and the voice of the cataract will be the 

60 




Views on Three Sisters Islands. 



expression of your own heart. You will fall as the bright waters 
fall, rushing down into your new world with no hesitation and with 
no dismay; and you will rise again as the spray rises, bright, beau- 
tiful, and pure. Then you will flow away in your course to the 
uncompassed, distant, and eternal ocean." 

Following a road along the south side of the Island, affording an 
unsurpassed view of the Canadian Rapids, which run at the rate of 
28 miles per hour, we come to the 

THREE SISTERS ISLANDS, 

connected with Goat Island and with one another by three beauti- 
ful bridges, and under each flounders a huge rapid. Their location 
in the midst of the Rapids afford many varied and desirable points 
to observe the scenery. From the head of the Third Sister a con- 
tinuous cascade extending toward the Canada shore as far as the 
eye can reach, and from which the spray rises in beautiful clouds, 
presents a peculiar phenomenon usually termed the 

LEAPING ROCK, 
doubtlessly a misnomer. The water striking against the rock rises 
perpetually in an unbroken column, twenty or more feet high, pro- 
ducing a brilliant effect. 

At the west end of the Third Sister island stands a clump of vine- 
tangled woods planted upon a mass of rocks separated by a swift- 
rushing, narrow current not yet bridged over, and called by some 
THE LITTLE BROTHER. 

Spanned by the First Sister Island Bridge, and a rare and at- 
tractive Fall is 

THE HERMIT'S CASCADE, 
a picturesque spot. It was one of the favorite resorts of the 
Hermit of the Falls, Francis Abbott, a young Englishman, who for 
years lived a solitary life at Niagara. His reason for leading this life 
was never kno^vn. He was drowned while bathing near the foot of 
the Inclined railway, in 1831. His body was recovered, and is 
buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Niagara Falls. 

AT THE HEAD OF GOAT ISLAND, 

a little further up the river, the view is quite expansive, command- 
ing both banks of the stream, and the islands in the channel. Be- 

62 




The Spring on Goat Island, 



ginning at the right, the site of Fort Schlosser is seen about a 
mile away, marked by a small white building and a very large chim- 
ney. The town of Chippewa on the Canada shore, Grand Island, 
Navy Island, etc., are all visible from this point. 

We leave with reluctance this most fascinating spot, of which 
Mrs. Sigourney wrote : " It is an unspeakable luxury here to sit 
in sohtary meditation, at once lulled and solemnized by the near 
voice of the everlasting torrent. It seems the most fascinating of 
all the haunts in this vicinity; the one where we earhest linger and 
latest depart. We take leave of it, as a being of intelHgence to whom 
we have given our heart. It has shielded us, when our senses were 
awe-stricken and overpowered, like the cliff where the prophet was 
hidden when that Majesty passed by which none can 'see and live.' " 
On our way back to the bridge a short stop at 

THE SPRING, 
a delicious little nook at the foot of the bank, from which a mag- 
nificent view is had of the American Rapids from their very edge. 

A writer who was at the Falls one hundred years ago, explains 
how the island was then visited. "To go down to this island it is 
necessary to set off at some distance above Chippewa, where the 
current is even, and to keep exactly in the middle of the river the 
whole way thither; if the boats were suffered to get off their course 
ever so httle, either to the right or left, it would be impossible to 
stem the current, and bring them again into it ; they would be irre- 
sistibly carried toward the Falls, and destruction must inevitably 
follow. In returning from the island there is still more difficulty 
and danger than in going to it." 

We have recrossed the bridge, passed the gate, and at our left, 
in plain view, stands the entrance to 

PROSPECT PARK, 
a remnant of the natural forest. Cool, shady walks run in all 
directions, the air is full of the fragrance of wild blossoms, rustic 
seats at intervals furnish delightful resting places and convenient 
positions to gaze at the scenery. When the shades of night envelop 
the earth in darkness, electric lights pour their brilliant rays upon 
the scene, infusing the spray clouds with gorgeous rainbow tints 
and brilliantly illuminating the rolling waters. An Art Gallery, 

64 




Prospect Park Scenes. 



Concert Hall, Fountains, Bazaar, and other objective points of 
entertainment, are provided to engage the attention of visitors. 

PROSPECT POINT 
is on the very verge of the Fall, at the point ^vhere its mighty waters 
descend in one solemn unbroken mass into a gulf of spray rising in 
clouds from the tortured waves beneath, and driven about by the 
gusts, till sometimes the whole river and the opposite shores are 
momentarily concealed. As this misty curtain is withdrawn, the 
whole scene is disclosed. Immediately in front is the American 
Fall, its waters almost in reach of the outstretched hand, beyond 
this Luna Island and the wooded steps of Goat Island, while to the 
right stretches in wonderful magnificence the subHme curve of the 
Horse-shoe Fall; and up the stream the foaming rapids greet the 
vision. 

Provision has been made for a rapid transit to the base of the 
precipice upon which we stand, and we take our seats upon the 
novel cars of 

THE INCLINED RAILWAY. 

A tunnel has been cut from the cliffs to the margin of the river, 
at an angle of about 30 degrees, and within it is built the railway, 
by the side of which is a flight of stairs, numbering 290 steps. The 
cars are raised and lowered by machinery, and are so arranged that 
one ascends while the other descends. 

Landing into a tunnel-like shed and donning an oil-skin dress, 
we emerge onto the rocks into a storm of spray, and stand upon 

THE HURRICANE BRIDGE, 
from which may be seen a tremendous ghost of mist, forming heavy 
clouds fringed with all the brilliant colors of the rainbow. The 
scene is wild and overpowering. Looking up to the towering crest 
of the stupendous cataract, the immense mass of waters seems to 
pour down from the skies. We pass now to 

THE SHADOW OF THE ROCK, 
the name given to a recess behind the Fall itself, which extends 
nearly to the center of the Fall, and is filled with the dashing spray 
perpetually rising from the caldron of waters. The roaj of the 
cataract echoes and re-echoes within this chamber, the effect being 
heightened by the compression of the air. 

66 



Returning to the dressing rooms, we cast off our mariner's suits 
and are ready for a trip to the Canada side, in 

THE FERRY. 

We commit ourselves to the Uttle boat and are soon dancing on 
the agitated waters, gazing in profound silence at the Falls. This 
crossing affords most vivid impressions of the majesty and im- 
mensity of the Cataract. The brawny boatman handles his oars 
dextrously, and in a few minutes we are landed at the foot of a 
steep roadway on the Canadian side. 

Much is said about "the road to Jordan;" this ferry road was 
not in existence at so early a date, but proves a hard one to travel 
nevertheless. However, the reward is at hand, and the goal reached. 
We are upon the bank. 

GENERAL VIEW. 

Here we have a view embracing the entire contour of the Cata- 
ract from the northern point of the American Fall to the Canadian 
shore at Table-Rock. Away southward " the cataract flashes and 
thunders and agonizes — an almighty miracle of grandeur for ever 
going on; — the sight is riveted on the yeasty writhe in the abysm, 
and the solemn pillars of crystal eternally falling, like the fragments 
of some palace-crested star, descending through the interminable 
space. The white field of the iris forms over the brow of the cata- 
ract, exhibits its radiant bow, and sails away in a vanishing cloud of 
vapor upon the wind; the tortured and convulsed surface of the 
caldron below shoots out its frothy and seething circles in perpetual 
torment; the thunders are heaped upon each other, the earth 
trembles; — the rocks and woods around are tinged with the ever- 
changing rays of the rainbow; the spectator sees the whole sweep 
of the great cataract spread before him at once, in a fine pano- 
ramic view of both Falls. The river, whose general course has 
been east and west, makes a sharp turn to the right j.ust at the 
point where the Fall now is. Its breadth is here contracted 
from three-fourths of a mile to less than one-fourth. The Horse- 
Shoe Fall only occupies the head of the chasm, while the American 
Cataract falls over its side; so that this Fall and part of the 
Horse-Shoe He directly parallel with the Canada shore, and its 
whole extent can be taken in at a single glance. It is this 

68 




Ferryman's Landing — Canada Side. 



oneness of aspect which renders the prospect from this side so much 
the more impressive. It gives a strong, sharp outUne which may 
afterward be filled up at leisure. " 

AMERICAN FALLS— FRONT VIEW. 
A few steps further, and from a small platform on the ledge 
opposite the Brunswick house, there is a most interesting front view 
of the American and Center Falls. The Rapids above, the church 
spires of the American village showing through the trees, the islands 
in the river, the rocks at the foot of the Falls upon which the 
descending torrent breaks into spray, all contribute to the magnifi- 
cence of the picture. 

TABLE ROCK 

exists only in name, and in the interest which attaches to its site. 

It was a truly magnificent crag, overhanging the fearful abyss, and 

it constituted one of the wonders of the place. The overhanging 

Table fell in 1850, and its remains stand in a huge mass of rock at 

the edge of the river below the bank. It extends along the bank 

to the very junction with the Horse-Shoe Fall, and the view from it 

is full of sublimity. "He who admires Nature in her stern and 

magnificent array, should stand upon the Table Rock," says Murray. 

"There '■Presentiorem Co?ispiciet Deum^' — there the tremendous roar 

will stun his ear — the mingled masses of waters and of foam will 

bewilder his eye — his mind will be overwhelmed by contending 

feelings of elevation and depression — and, unless he be colder than 

the very rock on which he stands, the thoughts that press upon his 

brain will be high, pure, and enthusiastic, and his hot brow will 

welcome the cool, light spray that is ever falling around the holy 

spot. " 

HORSE-SHOE FALL. 

Here we are again at the edge of the famous Cataract. The 

pencil nor the pen can do justice to the scene. The silent and 

still picture wants the motion and the sound of that stupendous 

rush of waters. An ever-rising column of spray, crowned with 

prismatic glory, spires upward from the foaming gulf below. This 

spectacle alone is worth a pilgrimage of several thousand miles to 

see. The depth of the water in the center is more than 20 feet, as 

proven by an experiment made with the unseaworthy vessel, 

"Michigan," sent over the Falls in 1827. 

70 




Table Rock. 



This Fall is 1900 feet across, with a drop of 158 feet, and fully 
fifteen hundred million cubic feet of water pass over the ledge every 
hour. The name "Horse-Shoe" is hardly true to the present shape, 
which is now more nearly rectangular. The horse-shoe curve has 
been marred by the falhng of portions of the clift' at various times, 
until its original symmetry has nearly departed. 
THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE, 
firmly anchored to the rocky banks at the north end of Table-Rock, 
descends the perpendicular face of the cliff and leads under Table- 
Rock, and to the foot of the Horse-Shoe Fall. Dresses and 
guides must be obtained to pass 

BELOW TABLE-ROCK AND UNDER THE FALL. 

The view here is grand in an awful degree. An indescribable 
feeling of awe steals over us, and we are more than ever impressed 
with the tremendous magnificence of Niagara, as we gaze upwards at 
the frowning cliff that seems tottering to its fall, and pass under the 
thick curtain of water — so near that it seems as if we could touch it 
— and hear the hissing spray, and are stunned by the deafening roar 
that issues from the misty vortex at our feet. The precipice of 
the Horse-Shoe Fall rises perpendicularly to a height of 90 feet ; at 
our feet the cliff descends about 70 feet into a turmoil of bursting 
foam; in front is the liquid curtain which, though ever passing 
onward, never unveils this wildest of Nature's caverns. 

An English writer, Trollope, thus describes a visit to this spot : 
"The visitor stands on a broad safe path, between the rock over 
which the water rushes and the rushing water. He will go in so far 
that the spray rising back from the bed of the torrent does not 
incommode him. With this exception, the further he can go in the 
better; but circumstances will clearly show him the spot to which 
he should advance. Unless the water be driven in by a very strong 
wind, five yards make the difference between a comparatively dry 
coat and an absolute wet one. And then let him stand with his 
back to the entrance, thus hiding the last glimmer of the expiring 
day. So standing he will look up among the falling waters, or 
down into the deep misty pit, from which they reascend in almost 
as palpable a bulk. The rock will be at his right hand, high and 
hard, and dark and straight, like the wall of some huge cavern, such 

72 




Canadian Rapids above the Faljs. 



as children enter in their dreams. For the first five minutes he will 
be looking but at the waters of a cataract, — at the waters, indeed, 
of such a cataract as we know no other, and at their interior curves 
which elsewhere we can not see. But by-and-by all this will 
change. He will no longer be on a shingly path beneath a water- 
fall; but that feeling of a cavern wall will grow upon him, of a 
cavern deep, below roaring seas, in which the waves are there, 
though they do not enter in upon him; or rather not the waves, but 
the very bowels of the ocean. He will feel as though the floods 
surrounded him, coming and going with their wild sounds, and he 
will hardly recognize that though among them he is not in them. 
And they, as they fall with a continual roar, not hurting the ear, but 
musical withal, will seem .to move as the vast ocean waters may 
perhaps move in their internal currents. He will lose the sense of 
one continued descent, and think that they are passing round him in 
their appointed courses. The broken spray that rises from the 
depth below, rises so strongly, so palpably, so rapidly, that the 
motion in every direction will seem equal. And, as he looks on, 
strange colors will show themselves through the mist ; the shades of 
grey will become green or blue, with ever and anon a flash of white ; 
and then, when some gust of wind blows in with greater violence, 
the sea-girt cavern will become all dark and black. Oh, my friend, 
let there be no one there to speak to thee then ; no, not even a 
brother. As you stand there speak only to the waters." 

Emerging from our expedition into the cavernous recess of the 
Great Fall, we now gaze from Table Rock at the 

CANADIAN RAPIDS ABOVE THE FALLS, 
full before us, sweeping down, multitudinous, apparently illimitable, 
the white foaming crests drawn sharply against the horizon, forming 
a grand and striking feature in the scenery of Niagara ; they are pro- 
duced by the compression of the river to the width of two miles and 
a half just below the termination of Grand and Navy Islands; and 
by its course for the distance of three-quarters of a mile over ledges 
of rugged rocks, making a descent of fifty-two feet on the American 
side, and fifty-seven on the Canada side. 

Continuing the road, we cross to Cedar Island, and following 
the Grand Rapids Drive, one of the pleasantest around Niagara, 

74 




Whirlpool Rapids. 



along the Canadian Rapids, we reach the Clark Hill Islands, five 
in number, connected to the main land at either end by the elegant 
suspension bridges, "Castor" and "Pollux." The scenery through 
the islands is of the most varied character, in strong contrast to the 
turbulence of the waters. Cynthia Island stands to our left, and 
immediately opposite, across a wild branch of the river, the cottage 
erected over the renowned 

BURNING SPRING, 

where, through a fissure in the rock, an inflammable sulphurous 
gas comes up. On the apphcation of a lighted candle, it takes fire, 
and plays about with a lambent, flickering flame, which seldom 
touches the water, the gas being at first too pure to be inflammable, 
and only obtaining sufficient oxygen after mingling with the atmos- 
phere. For the purpose of experiments, witnessed by the visitors, 
the gas is collected in a cyhnder, allowed to pass out of the top of 
it through an inch pipe. After certain experiments are made, show- 
ing the tremendous force of the gas, the cylinder is removed, and 
the gas ignited on the surface of the water, through which it escapes. 
From the bluff above the Burning Spring, a magnificent view is 
had of the Rapids and the River, and also of 

NAVY ISLAND, 

over three hundred acres in area. The island is a British posses- 
sion, and in 1837 was made the rendezvous of the Canadian Patriots 
in open rebellion against the authorities of the Dominion. 

Retracing our steps, we notice, passing through the village, 

THE MUSEUM BUILDING, 

which contains a coUection of natural and artificial curiosities 

gathered from the various corners of the earth, and tastefully 

arranged for display. 

Our objective point now is the American side, and in three 
or four minutes we arrive at the entrance of 

THE NEW SUSPENSION BRIDGE. 

This graceful structure was completed in 1869, and is located 
some 300 yards below the American P'alls. It is 1268 feet in length, 
and calculated only for a carriage way and foot walk. The height 
of the bridge above the river is 190 feet and the towers at each end 

76 



are over loo feet high. These are provided with suitable stairways 
and elevators to reach the top, from which fine views of the scenery- 
can be had. The bridge is undisturbed by ordinary winds ; but 
winds that are but gentle breezes on the land, strike the bridge with 
the force of a brisk gale, and a gale on land becomes a storm on 
the water. The winds press through the gorge as through a funnel. 
Even in the calm weather, puffs of wind come up from the Falls, 
surcharged with spray, and then there may be seen, in sunshine, 
the new phenomenon of a rainbow, both over and under the plat- 
form, describing a complete circle round about the bridge. 

W. D. Howells describes, in his account of a certain wedding 
journey to Niagara Falls, the superb view from this bridge. "The 
last hues of sunset lingered in the mists that sprung from the base 
of the Falls with a mournful, tremulous grace, and a movement 
weird as the play of the Northern Lights. They were touched with 
the most delicate purples and crimsons, that darkened to deep red, 
and then faded from them at a second look, and they flew upward, 
swiftly upward, like troops of pale, transparent ghosts; while a per- 
fectly clear radiance, better than any other for local color, dwelt 
upon the scene. Far under the bridge the river smoothly ran, the 
undercurrents forever unfolding themselves upon the surface with a 
vast roselike evolution, edged all round, with faint lines of white, 
where the air that filled the water freed itself in foam. What had 
been clear green on the face of the cataract was here more like 
rich verd antique, and had a look of firmness almost like that of 
the stone itself So it showed beneath the bridge, and down the 
river till the curving shores hid it. These, springing abruptly from 
the water's brink, and shagged with pine and cedar, displayed the 
tender verdure of grass and bushes intermingled with the dark ever- 
greens that climb from ledge to ledge, till they point their speary 
tops above the crest of the bluffs. In front, where tumbled »©cks 
and expanses of naked clay varied the gloomier and gayer green, 
sprung those spectral mists; and through them loomed out, in its 
manifold majesty, Niagara, with the seemingly immovable, white 
Gothic screen of the American Fall, and the green massive curve 
of the Horse-Shoe, solid and simple and calm as an Egyptian wall ; 
while behind this, with their white and black expanses broken by 

78 




Elevator at Whirlpool Rapids. 



dark-foliaged little isles, the steep Canadian rapids billowed down 
between their heavily wooded shores. " 

On the American shore, to the north of the bridge, 
THE BRIDAL VEIL FALL, 
a rushing strip of white foam and mist, runs down the rocky bank. 
It is a part of the waters whose power has been dedicated to in- 
dustrial pursuits, a canal from the head of the rapids furnishing 
the power for numerous mills and factories, and emptying into the 
river at this point. 

We have now seen all the points immediately around these 
wonderful Falls, but the Niagara river has still many surprises in 
reserve for us. 

Directing our course northwards, catching on our way some 
delightful glimpses of the river and Falls, we pass through the village 
of Suspension Bridge, where concentrate several of the great rail 
highways between the east and the west. First looms up to view 

THE NEW CANTILEVER BRIDGE 
recently opened, a positively elegant structure, of new model, the 
first of any magnitude constructed upon the Cantilever principle. It 
was erected by the Central Bridge Works of Buffalo, N. Y., in less 
than seven months from the award of the contract, for the Michigan 
Central Railroad Company. It is a monument to the progress and ad- 
vancement of this age, creditable alike to its projectors and builders. 

Below this stands another remarkable structure, 
THE OLD SUSPENSION BRIDGE, 
two miles below the Falls. This was built in 1855 by John A. 
Roebling, and is both a railroad and carriage bridge. It is a marvel 
of engineering, some 8,000 miles of wire being employed in the 
cables. 

The following are the dimensions : 

Length of span, . . A • • • • 822 feet. 

Height of tower above rock, American side, . . 88 " 

" " '' " Canada side, . . 78 " 

" " " floor of railway . . . 60 " 

Number of wire cables, 4 

Diameter of each cable, ...... lo^in. 

Number of No. 9 wires in each cable, . . . 3,639 
Ultimate aggregate strength of cables, . . 12,400 tons. 

80 



td 




The first string was carried across the chasm by means of a kite, 
and then heavier ropes were dragged across, till the cables them- 
selves thus performed the passage. 

WHIRLPOOL RAPIDS. 

The narrowing of the channel in the vicinity of the bridge 
greatly accelerates the current, and the tremendous force with which 
it rushes through the gorge throws the water into violent commotion. 
On the American side a double elevator, and on the Canada side an 
inclined railway have been provided to descend to the water's edge 
and take a near view of the wild scene. 

Descending by the elevator, on the American side, we easily 
reach the river's edge, and the mass of foaming angry waters, 
seething billows, wild, startling and fearful in their power, give us a 
reaUzation of the terrific force of Niagara. 

To the Whirlpool Rapids Park, on the Canada side, our steps 
are now directed. We cross over the Suspension Bridge and after 
descending by means of what might be properly termed a "gravita- 
tion railway, " we are .in a most delightful, cool and shady retreat, 
the swift-rolling waters surging at our feet. "There are the rapids 
of Niagara river," lately wrote M. M. Pomeroy, the undaunted 
Brick, "we can see up stream for some distance, but for the bend 
cannot see the falls nor hear them roar. Down through this narrow 
ravine rushes the green, cold water at the rate of thirty miles an 
hour. The river is probably deeper than it is wide at this point — a 
restless torrent set up edgewise ! The center of the stream is many 
feet higher than are its ragged sides or edges. The channel is- ob- 
structed with the huge fragments of rocks that have fallen from the 
sides of the gorge or ravine, 200 feet above. Great billows rise 
like giants and throw themselves higher still as spray, as a current 
halting at some great obstruction at the bottom of the river is struck 
by the rushing volume and imperiously and irresistibly ordered to 
move on. Now the billows lull and we can see a picnic party on 
the opposite shore at the foot of a perpendicular enclosed elevator. 
In a second a billow rises from ten to forty feet high, curls, carves, 
writhes, struggles and flies to pieces as though annihilated. In an 
instant it is reformed and with a roar, a shout, a curse, a protest, 
leaps high in air, falls and rises again like some grand wounded 

82 



hero who will not die though stabbed to pieces. The waters dash 
fierce and fast upon the rock-ribbed, corrugated shore. The sun 
beats down from overhead as if enjoying and applauding the 
struggles of the river. Grasses, vines, flowers and small trees are 
struggling to gain a deeper foothold and to live, as they hold fast to 
look down and to watch the irrepressible conflict. " 
CAPTAIN WEBB. 

" It was through this gorge, these rapids, that a foolish man 
lately lost his life in an attempt to swim, or to be floated, or whirled 
down them alive. He was rowed out to the center of the stream 
above the Suspension Bridge, left his hat and clothes in the boat, 
shook hands with the boatman who ferried us over in his yawl, and 
set his face to his death. Like a feather on the water he swam 
down where the eddying foam halts as if afraid of the rapids — like 
a toy in a blast he is caught up, lifted, whirled, and flung lifeless by 
one compressed wave against another, and in a moment his lifeless 
remains are dandled aloft on the finger tips of the giant Niagara, 
then cast out of the mouth of the rapids to float onto, and into, and 
out of, and beyond the whirlpool, and then c[uietly along on the 
bosom of the green, mighty river, his brave upturned face telling 
no story other than one of foolish bravery. Fearless, foolish . 
Captain Webb. " 

This mad attempt of Captain Matthew Webb took place on the 
24th day of July, 1883. The body was recovered during the after- 
noon of July 28th, in the river, below Levviston, and finally given a 
final resting place in the strangers' plot, at Oakwoods Cemeterv, 
where his grave lies side by side with that of the Hermit of the 
Falls. 

NAVIGATION OF THE RAPIDS. 

But take notice of those rapids and ask yourself what chance of 
hfe would remain to any ship, craft, or boat required to navigate 
this torrent. The feat, however, has been accomplished. A small 
steamer, called the "Maid of the Mist," was built upon the river, 
between the Falls and the Rapids, and was used for taking frequent 
daily trip^ amidst the spray in the basin below the cataract. As 
she was confined to one side of the river for taking passengers, the 
traffic became unprofitable, and the owner concluded to sell her. 

84 




The Maid of the Mist and her Pilot. 



He could get a fair offer if the boat was delivered in the waters of 
Lake Ontario. Captain Joel R. Robinson, who had been her pilot, 
concluded to run the rapids and take the boat through this hell and 
fury of waters. Accordingly, in the afternoon of the 8th day of 
September, 1861, with only the engineer in the hold and a friend 
with him at the wheel, he undertook that wondrous voyage. 

The boat darted like an arrow into the first rapid. She made one 
long leap down as she passed under old Suspension Bridge, her 
funnel was at once knocked flat on the deck, she careened over, 
the waters covered her from stem to stern, but she rose again, and 
skimmed into the whirlpool. With sure hand and eye undimmed, 
Robinson gave a powerful pull at the wheel, shot free of the sucking 
eddies of the dreaded whirlpool, took the sharp turn round into the 
river below, and in an instant steamed into the quiet waters at 
Lewiston. The feat was done. The Maid was sold, and carried 
from thence to the St. Lawrence river. 

THE WHIRLPOOL. 

A half mile below the Rapids, the Whirlpool is found. Here 
the river makes an acute angle in its course, turning to the right, 
and boils within a narrower compass than in any other spot. The 
current of the river runs with such fierce velocity that it rises up in 
the middle ten to twenty feet above the sides. The rocks around 
are abrupt. On the surface of this whirling vortex are often seen 
the ruins of forest floating around, marking out to the eye the outline 
of that fatal circle. The bodies of people who have been lost over 
the Falls float sometimes round and round this dismal hole for days 
together, carried on the surface by the whirling eddies back to the 
main stream, or sucked down, to emerge again in a few minutes, 
and continue their ghastly journey. 

HERE the long- valley crooks, and the flight of the river is broken ; 
Headlong it plunges, despairing, and beats on the bars of its prison; 
Beats, and runs wildly from wall to wall, then strives to recover, 
Beats on another slill, and around the cii cle is carried. 
Jostled from shoulder to shoulder, till losing its galloping motion, 
Dizzily round it swirls, and is dragged toward the hideous Whirlpool. 

Round sweeps the horrible maelstrom, and into the whirl of its vortex 
Circle a broken boat, an oar-blade, things without number; 
Striving, they shove one another, and seem to hurry, impatient 
To measure the shadowy will -be, and seek from their torment a respite. 

86 




The Whirlpool. 



Log-8 that have leapt the Falls and swum unseen 'neath the current, 
Here are restored again, and weird is their resurrection ; 
Here like straws they are snapt, and grinding like millstones together, 
Chafing and splintering their mates, they wade in their deepening ruins; 

Till, without hope, on tiptoe they rise, lips shriveled and speechless , 
Seeing sure fate before them that tightens its toils to ensnare them; 
Hollow the hell-hole gapes, and ravenously it receives them; 
All that is left is a sigh, and the echoes of that are soon strangled. 

— Oeo. Houghton's N'iagara. 

THE MANITOU, OR PINNACLE ROCK, 

is supposed to be a portion of the cliff, at the base of which it lies, 
thrown down in former times. It is situated about fifty rods above 
the whirlpool, at the edge of the river, its shape being that of an 
inverted cone, with its apex resting upon the summit of another 
large rock, reaching to the height of nearly one hundred feet from 
the water's edge. 

BROCK'S MONUMENT. 

On Queenston Heights, four miles below the Whirlpool, on the 
Canada side, stands the Monument erected to the memory of the 
British General, Sir Isaac Brock, who fell in the sanguinary action 
fought on the spot on the T5th of October, 1812. The view from 
this monument is most gorgeous. The eye wanders with untiring 
delight over a rich scene of woodland and water, through the 
branches of the trees. You can see the tops of the houses of 
Queenston, and before you unrolls a magnificent panorama. The 
Niagara river winding, like a ribbon spread upon the earth sub- 
jected to the caprices of the wind, and finally mingling its waters 
with that of Lake Ontario; the blue hills of Toronto in the far dis- 
tance; the vast expanse of the lake, and the picturesque shores on 
both sides, form the salient points of the picture. 

THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN, 
on the American side, opposite Queenston Heights, also affords 
from its elevated position a magnificent view of Lake Ontario and 
the river Niagara. 

Just below Queenston Heights is the village of 
QUEENSTON, ONTARIO, 
a small picturesque town, worthy of notice chiefly on account of 
the memorable battle that took place on the neighboring heights. 

88 



LEWISTON, N. Y., 

opposite Queenston, is a beautifully situated town, about seven 
miles from the Falls. It is a place of some importance, and stands 
at the head of the navigation on the river; it contains several fine 
hotels and public buildings. The first Suspension Bridge across 
Niagara river, now a dangling ruin, was erected at this point. 
Seven miles further 

NIAGARA TOWN 
stands on the Canada shore, opposite Youngstown, on 'he site of 
Newark, which was burnt in 1813 by General McClure. A short 
distance above the town are the remains of Fort George, which 
was taken by the Americans in 181 2, afterward destroyed by the 
British and left in ruins. It is an agreeable summer resort, facilities 
being provided for comfort, sport, games and outdoor enjoyment. 

FORT NIAGARA 

Stands at the mouth of the Niagara River on the American side. 
There are many interesting associations connected with this spot. 
During the earlier part of the past century it was the scene of many 
severe conflicts between the whites and the Indians, and sub- 
sequently between the Enghsh and the French. In 1812, 1813, and 
1814 it was one of the pivotal points of the British-American fron- 
tier war. It was established as a trading post by La Salle in 1678. 
The village adjacent to the Fort is called Youngstown, in honor 
of its founder, the late John Young, Esq. 

FORT MISSASAUGA, 

also at the mouth of the river, opposite Fort Niagara, is a little 
below the town of Niagara, and is used as a summer camp, garri- 
soned by British soldiers. 

THE DEVIL'S HOLE, 

on the American side, three miles below the Falls, is a large chasm 
in the bank of the river, which receives the water from a small 
stream known as Bloody Run; it was the scene of the murder of 
the English, 600 in number, by the French and Indians in 1793, 
when only three of the number escaped to tell the tale. 

90 




River Banks from Table Rock to Qu eenston. 



m 



LUNDY'S LANE BATTLE GROUND, 

located one and one-half miles west of the Falls, was the scene of a 

sanguinary action between the British and American forces, on 

July 25th, 1814, the loss on both sides in killed and wounded being 

1,800. 

DRUMMONDVILLE, 

in the immediate vicinity, is named after General Drummond, then 
commander of the British forces. 

ABOVE THE FALLS. 
On the way to or from Lundy's Lane we have passed within a 
short distance of a large building, devoted to educational purposes, 
and generally known as The Convent. This institution is located 
at a point on the bluff, where the river makes a sharp, big inshore, 
and from the edge of the bank can be had one of the most striking 
views of the cataract. " Niagara should be first approached from 
above," is a sentiment echoed and re-echoed by the writers of past 
generations; and the one comprehensive view, the grouping of 
Rapids and Islands and Falls and Gorge as seen from the Convent, 
presents a picture of surpassing beauty. The vast concave of the 
Falls of Niagara opens upon your view. The American Fall forms 
the farther extremity of the semicircle, breaking in a broad white 
sheet of foam upon a heap of rocks below. Close by its inner ex- 
tremity is a gush of water — the Centre Fall — a fragment of the 
larger cataract separated by a small rocky island in the bed of the 
river. The eye then rests upon the precipitous end of Goat Island. 
Then the curve of the Horse-Shoe Fall rounds into prospect with 
full view of the Islands and the angry Canadian Rapids. From the 
centre of the curve, a pillar of spray floats calmly up. 

CHIPPEWA BATTLE GROUND. 
Upon this field, located near the village on the Canadian bank of the 
Niagara, three miles above the Falls, was fought the first of that 
series of actions which decided the campaign of 18 14 in favor of 
the American arms. The battle took place on July 5th, 18 14. 
The British made the attack and retreated after the action. 

THE TUSCARORA INDIAN RESERVATION 
is 9 miles northeast from the Falls. It is strictly an Indian village 
upon which Tuscaroras are located, and well worth a visit. 

93 




Outlet of Niagara River. 



DISTANCES. 



FKOM PRINCIPAIi HOTEIiS. 

Around Goat Island, _ _ . _ 

" Prospect Park, ----- 

To New Suspension Bridge, _ _ - 

" Eailway " " _ _ _ _ 

" Cantilever Bridge, _ _ _ _ 

" Whirlpool Rapids, ----- 

" Whirlpool, - . _ _ _ 

" Devil's Hole, ------ 

" Top of Mountain, - - _ _ 

" Indian Village (Council House), - - - 

" Table Rock, - - . - - 

" " " via New Suspension Bridge, or Ferry, 
" " " " Railway Suspension Bridge, 
" Burning Spring, ----- 

" " " via New Suspension Bridge, 

** " " '■'• Railway Suspension Bridge, 

" Lundy's Lane Battle Ground, - - _ 

To Brock's Monument, Queenston Heights, - 



CANADA SIDE. 

2 miles. 
1 

l8 " 
2 

134 - 

2I4 '' 
234 - 

4 

7 

l8 " 



1^ 



7 



AM. SIDE. 

II2 miles. 

I2 " 

I4 - 

2 

134 - 

21^ " 

3 

31^ " 

8 

II4 '' 

434 •' 

II 

21^2 '' 

6 

2 

7 miles. 



ADMISSION FEES AND TOLLS. 

To Goat Island for the day, - - - - - - $0 50 

" '•'■ "■ " season, - - - - _ -I 00 

" Prospect Park for the day, - - - - - - 25 

" " " season, - - - - - -0 75 

"■ Cave of the Winds (with guide and dress), - - - - 1 00 

" Shadow of the Rock (with guide and dress), - - - - 1 00 

" Art Gallery (Prospect Park), - - - - - _ 025 

"■ Inclined Railway (Prospect Park), - - - -.-025 

'' Ferry to Canada and Prospect Park, - - - - 50 

" Electric Light (Prospect Park) extra, on day or season tickets, - 15 

" Behind Horse-Shoe Fall with guide and dress. Canada side, - 1 00 

•' Museum, - - - - - - - - -0 50 

'' Burning Spring and Islands, - - - - - 50 

" Lundy's Lane Battle Ground, - - - ' - - - 50 

" Whirlpool Rapids (either side), - - - - - 50 

" Whirlpool (either side), - - - - - - -0 50 

" Crossing New Suspension Bridge (each way), - - - 25 

" " " " " extra for two -horse carriage, - 50 

" Crossing Railway Suspension Bridge (over and return), - - 25 

'' " '' " " extra for two-horse carriage, 50 

To Toll on River Bank Highway, Canada side, for carriages only, - 10 



95 



^92.?? u I 



$0 50 

25 

1 00 
50 
12 



RATES OF FARE 

ALLOWED BY LAW IN THE VILLAGE OF NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y. 

For the use and hire of carriages where no express coritract is made therefor. 

For carrying one passenger and ordinary baggage from one place to 
another in this Village, ----"" 

Each additional passenger and ordinary baggage, - 

For carrying one passenger and ordinary baggage from any pomt m 
this village to any point in the village of Suspension Bridge, 

Each additional passenger and ordinary baggage, 

Each additional piece of baggage other than ordinary baggage, 

Children under three years of age, free. 

Over three years and under fourteen years of age, half price. 

Ordinary baggage is defined to be one trunk and one bag, hat or hand box, or 
other small parcel. . 

For carrying one or more passengers, in the same carriage, from any pomt m 
this village to any point within five miles of the limits of the village, at 
the rate of one dollar and fifty cents for each hour occupied, except 
that in every instance where such carriage shall be drawn by a smgle 
horse, the fare therefor shall be at the rate of one dollar for each hour 
occupied. 

As a parting injunction to the visitors of the future, the pilgrim 
would advise them, mvariably, to make distinct agreements with 
the hackmen or any other person whose services they may require 
at Niagara Falls, as to the service expected and the amount to be 
paid in return. Exact the terms of your contract, but do not go 
beyond without first having a thorough understanding as to the cost. 




96 



!t.-==_ 



